Goodbye, Dear Friend
by Kiki Morte
Summary: A memorial for a fellow Newsies lover. Swifty finds something in the bunkroom that he wish he hadn't


*Shot walks in completely in black*

Shot- Today is a sad day. I recently discovered that a dear friend of mine and fellow newsies lover Richie 'Bummer' -----, I'm not putting his last name, killed himself. I wrote this because I was unable to attend the wake or funeral and this is my memorial for him.

Warning- contains suicide.

Disclaimer- I don't own Newsies.

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Swifty walked into the LH humming softly to himself. At first, he was surprised to not see Kloppman at the front desk. Then he remembered that today was the day that Kloppman went food shopping for himself. Swifty started to head upstairs to the bunkroom, when a stray newspaper with misspelled charcoal writing on it. He picked it up and read, "**Klopman and guys, do not come upstairs, just get a doktor**."

Swifty frowned. Suddenly a small gunshot was heard from the bunkroom. That sent him running upstairs. At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then he saw a walking stick poking out from between two bunks. Swifty walked over slowly. When he reached the stick, he saw Bumlets lying on the floor between the two bunks. A gun lay next to him, and blood pooled around his head. Swifty pushed Bumlets' foot, "Bum, come on, wake up, Bumlets."

Bumlets didn't move. Swifty backed out of the room. He ran down the stairs and out the door. He ran all the way to Tibby's. Jack was sitting there with David and Les. Jack looked up at his panting friend, "Heya Swifty. Something wrong?"

Swifty nodded.

David prodded him, "Well, what?"

Swifty turned his head away, "Bumlets is dead."  
Jack jumped up, "What?"

Swifty nodded, "Yeah, he shot himself."

Les stood, "NO."

Tears started to run down Swifty's cheeks. The four boys ran back to the LH. They went up to the bunkroom. When they saw Bumlets' body, David hid Les from the site. A jumbled note filled with misspelled words lay on the bed next to him. Jack handed it to David, "Here, Davey, you read it."

David read outloud slowly, stumbling over the misspelled words, "Dear guys. I'm sorry to whoever finds me. I just can't go on anymore. I'm too old to be a newsie. And I've tried factories but none will take me cause of my Spanish gypsy background. I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry. Your friend Dominic 'Bumlets' Lucero."

The four boys dropped their heads and slowly walked out of the room. Tears silently fell from them all. In the lobby, Kloppman and the rest of the guys were slowly filling the room. Jack stood on the stairs and loudly cleared his throat, "Guys, I have some bad news."

The Manhattan Newsies quickly quieted.

Jack's eyes dropped to the floor. He spoke slowly and sadly, "Our dear friend, Bumlets, has decided that life is too hard and has killed himself."

The other newsies all started to lower their heads to cry in peace. Slowly they all started to walk out of the room.

(The next day)

(At a field)

The Sun shone brightly but not one face was happy. The Manhattan Newsies gathered around a grave. Jack spoke to all, "We are gathered here today to say goodbye to our friend, Dominic 'Bumlets' Lucero. He was a friend that none of us will ever forget."

The newsies lowered their heads and gave a silent prayer as a coffin was lowered into the grave. A small wooden cross was placed at the head of the grave. The newsies slowly filed away, leaving only Swifty there. Swifty walked up to the grave and laid Bumlets' walking/fencing stick on it. Swifty started to cry softly while speaking, "You were my best friend Bumlets. I don't know why you did it. Just remember you will never be forgotten."

Swifty walked away from the grave as a soft wind blew across the field. 

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Shot: Thank you for reading my memorial for my friend. I now beg you, please suicide is never the answer. There are too many people that care about you. Please talk to someone before you consider suicide. I now ask you to please say a silent prayer for a good friend and fellow Newsies lover, Richie 'Bummer' -----. Thank you again. 


End file.
